Taking Down the Decorations

December 26, 2012

I can’t believe Christmas is already over. It seems like just yesterday I was blogging about how excited I was for the upcoming holiday season. I swear, Christmas comes quicker and quicker every year (despite embracing the sights and sounds earlier and earlier every year).

Today, Mal and I spent the majority of the day putting away our Christmas decorations, organizing the dishes in our kitchen, and preparing for another home improvement project.

Breakfast

My day started bright and early with a French Toast Breakfast Scramble with a scoop of sunflower butter in the mix. I ate my breakfast while catching up with some work while Mal (and Murphy) slept.

Workout

A couple of hours later, I got dressed and headed to CrossFit with Mal for a workout.

Today’s WOD:

Strength:

Good Mornings 5 x 5. Add weight ea.

WOD:

4 Rounds For Time:

10 RDL’s

5 Power Cleans

10 Lateral Burpees

Rx: (185, 135)

Kerrie was in class this morning, so I worked with her on the Good Mornings. We worked our way up to 5 reps of 115 pounds.

For the WOD, I used 95 pounds, which was only Level 1, but, damn, it was heavy. The members at our box are definitely getting stronger and our coaches are pushing us to get stronger, so the weights for the WODs keep getting heavier and heavier. I remember when I used to do a lot of Level 2 workouts, but not anymore! Anyway, I used 95 pounds for the Romanian Deadlifts (RDL’s) and Power Cleans and finished in 7:25, right behind Mal and Kerrie, who I tried to keep up with for the entire workout. They’re both great motivation!

Snack

After CrossFit, I refueled with a protein shake made with fitmixer protein powder, decaf coffee, almond milk, cinnamon, and water.

Then, Mal and I went on a cleaning and organizing spree.

Project #1: putting away all of our Christmas decorations.

Project #2: Cleaning the house, which, of course, included vacuuming the pine needles that exploded all over our house.

By the way, how does that happened?! I swear, we find pine needles all year long!

Project #3: organizing the dishes in our kitchen.

Mal was inspired to de-clutter after reading an “Organizing Challenge” article in the January issue of Real Simple.

All of my mismatched bowls and plates for the blog stressed him out, so I got rid of a bunch of them, which made our dish cabinets look nice and neat.

Lunch

After spending a few hours packing, cleaning, and organizing, I was more than ready for food. I snacked on some baby carrots and Rotel Dip while I made lunch.

I also keep up decorations through January 6- which is also my dads bday. Since his passing in 2009 I enjoy keeping the tree up even more- for him 🙂 But I can understand wanting to get a clean start right away!

Wow! Day after Christmas and you’re already getting things done and tackling the new year. I love it! I usually don’t take my Christmas decorations down until after New years Eve…we’re having a party and I think it’s fun to keep the lights and everything for just a little longer!

I forgot about the whole…it’s after Christmas so the decorations aren’t relevant anymore…thing. This post reminded me I should probably start putting them away. I’m never ready to say goodbye to the Christmas tree, but I suppose it is time. Thanks for the reminder!

It’s not time to put away decorations – it is the 12 days of Christmas! That means January 6th or as some call it, Little Christmas or Epiphany, when the 3 Wise Men came. I was so sad to see someone’s tree already out by the sidewalk early yesterday morning. Have you always taken down your decorations right after Christmas day? Anyways…my rant is over. I’m keeping mine up until I have time to take them down and after January 6th! 🙂

So sad that Christmas is over! I’m in denial!! You put your decorations away already? I’m in no hurry- I try to drag it out! 🙂 hehe

I’m 21 and home from school for winter break. I’m overall very health conscious in what I eat and how I exercise, but my family has gotten way off track and I’m afraid my parents have gained a lot of the weight back they once lost. Do you have any advice for how I can help them get us all back on track after the holiday?

Also, I appreciate the TONS of chocolate and candy that I got in my Christmas stocking but I’m trying to be good! How do I not offend my parents?

Haha, Mal reminds me so much of my husband with his cleaning and organization sprees. Thank goodness my husband hasn’t got a hold of that Real Simple magazine, otherwise I might be getting sucked into a lot more cleaning and organizing projects against my will. Lol. And, I also have an inability to dress myself. When I randomly happen to find an outfit that works I’ll just wear it over and over because of my lack of skills in that area. 😉

We always keep them up until my parents wedding anniversary on Jan 8th, but if it weren’t for that we would follow the 12 Days of Christmas, too. Not trying to offend you, but to us it is still a religious holiday, and so observing Epiphany has meaning to us with the tree and star and our crÃ¨che as well. To me putting up decorations right after Thanksgiving and taking them down Dec 26 seems to follow a “holiday” made up by tv commercials and mall decorations. It doesn’t have meaning to our family in the same way, but to each his own. I’m sure in some ways it feels good to have the house all tidy, and if you have to go back to work right away, I can certainly understand doing that earlier.

Love the tulips! I just picked some up from TJ’s yesterday in orange! I hate taking down the decorations and wait until after New Year’s. I took a rest day and cleaned out my closet and organized it and did the same with my kitchen utensils. So random, but it needed to happen. Xmas goes by way too quickly!